Dreaming Isn't Enough
by thedarkdragon154
Summary: Everyone aboard the plane, excluding the Extraction team turned into something inhuman. They were cute, little, adorable dark creatures with yellow eyes and antennae, leaving them the only humans aboard the plane. And as the only threat. Temporary Hiatus
1. Prolouge

**Edit 2/20-** The whole story has been edited. I hope you enjoy this better than what it was.

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything! Inception belongs to Christopher Nolan and KH belongs to Square Enix and Disney!**

* * *

It had been three, long, hard months since Mal's death, and Arthur, for one, hated Cobb's longing for her. Sure, it wasn't that long ago, but Cobb's response and lack of care for the world was absolutely horrifying to the Point Man. So when Cobb phoned Arthur the night before about a job, _giddy_ and optimistic, he knew something was out of place.

That day, at around 10A.M., Arthur sat patiently at a small table in a café, secluded from the rest of the L.A. buzz around him. His hair was swept back tidily, along with his plain grey suit, and he gripped onto a silver briefcase that was worth more than his life ever so tightly. As he alternated between tapping on his table with his right index finger lightly and sipping some strong black coffee, he grew more and more agitated that neither Cobb nor Eames arrived yet.

After about fifteen minutes, a man in a black suit with a black fedora covering half of his face entered the café quietly and swiftly settled into a seat next to Arthur. As he lifted his fedora off his face slightly, Arthur immediately realized that it was Cobb. "You're late," Arthur remarked, diluting his annoyance but twitching nonetheless.

"Eames is still in Mombasa, but he'll meet us at the airport in an hour," Cobb replied, shrugging off Arthur's comment. "So let's get going."

**-An Hour Later At the Airport-**

"…He's late," Arthur sighed, holding his passport and briefcase, waiting to be let on the plane.

At that moment, Eames, fully clad in a black suit, walked in and stepped behind Cobb and Arthur. The three were let onto the plane momentarily, and they did their best to avoid eye contact or rouse suspicion that they were anything but individual men going to New York. The interior of the plane was as white and boring as can be, and all the passengers aboard were no better. Clad in dressy suits and swept back hair, every single male aboard was a near splitting image of Arthur, to the dismay of Eames.

Mentally, Eames swore at the bland men as Arthur mechanically took a window seat, before grudgingly sat next to Cobb, who conveniently sat behind Arthur. He had wrongly assumed that all the people surrounding him were his companions on the next job, though if he had asked Cobb otherwise, that view would have been fixed shortly. When the airplane took flight, instead of watching Cobb or Arthur read a novel of some sort, Eames decided to take a nap and miss out on anything exciting that would have come from staring at the back of the seat in front of him.

Arthur, on the other hand, was trying his best to achieve the delusion that he was calmly reading a novel on psychology, and not panicking in the slightest. He had an emotionless expression with no signs of sweat, and he occasionally scrunched or raised his eyebrows as if something was interesting while turning a page. No one seemed to particularly notice him, and those who occasionally glanced at him were the ones with nothing to do who ran their eyes on everything that was moving.

As Arthur kept his delusion running, his mind raced through all the possible problems and outcomes of the job, as he was the Point Man, the one who factually kept the group together. He struggled a little bit as he asked himself the possibility of Eames losing both his arms and the possibility that Mal would arrive in the dreams, the latter being definitely possible while the former was just a pleasant thought in his eyes. He sighed as he relieved the memory of meeting Eames. It wasn't a pretty thought. Arthur shook his head rapidly to forget the memory and think of pleasant landscapes and scenarios, like those tapes that people buy to get them to sleep but end up being useless anyway.

He glanced behind to look at Cobb, who was sleeping with a euphoric expression. Arthur raised his eyebrows slightly, as the last time he saw Cobb with a slight smile was…before Mal died. "I wonder if he'd dreaming… and what, if that" he murmured quietly. It wasn't long before he shut his book to take a look at the sky outside. His eyes slowly grew larger at the sight before him.

What caught his eye at first was that the sky was completely dark and purple, dropping powerful rain like hail, and lightning bolts scattered across the bleak sky. With that sight in mind, one would expect booming thunder to deafen everyone, but that wasn't the case. Although Arthur could hear the splitter-splatter of the rain, there was no thunder to be heard, and everyone around him, he realized, was completely unaware of the terrible weather for flying. It wasn't the safest time to be on a plane, but if the pilot was not at all fazed by the weather, then Arthur would try to remain perfectly calm. He took another look outside to find something more intriguing.

They were passing by a huge, _floating_ castle that was white with a purplish tint to it. It was adorned with a few black symbols of a messed up heart that were upside down, and below it was a dark city, complete with a menacing aura. The city had many skyscrapers that pierced the sky and many screens that showed white nothings. There was a peculiar building that was larger and brighter than the rest, but Arthur paid no heed to it, as he saw something far more interesting above the castle. He also lacked the interest to look closely at the streets of the dark city, which were scattered with white beings that were definitely not human.

What Arthur did gape at, however, was the heart shaped moon above the castle, illuminating a gold tinted brown glow. It was a breathtaking, stunning sight, as the "moon" pierced the purple clouds and red sky, but Arthur quickly shook himself out of the trance before turning to ask Cobb about the odd area they were in.

Unfortunately for Arthur, Cobb and Eames were both taken by a peaceful slumber.

Twitching, Arthur shot his left arm between his seat and the window, shaking Cobb as best he could with his less dominant hand. When Cobb did wake up, agitated, Arthur pointed to the window with a serious look on his face. Cobb, just as Arthur did, widened his eyes at the view, and as he looked around the plane, his eyes grew wider. He gestured to everyone else, and it was then that Arthur noticed something important.

Everyone aboard the plane, excluding the Extraction team turned into something inhuman. They were cute, little, adorable dark creatures with yellow eyes and antennae, leaving them the only humans aboard the plane. Leaving them the enemy, as the creatures tilted their spherical heads to the side, staring at them.

* * *

**Please Review!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Edit 2/20- **The whole story has been edited. I hope you enjoy this more than what it was. Most of the edits were in the prologue, though.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything! Inception belongs to Christopher Nolan and KH belongs to Square Enix and Disney!

**

* * *

**

**Chapter One**

"Have you gotten the correct ingredients for the special sedatives?"

"Yes, now hush, I need to concentrate. There's no way I'm synthesizing anything with those imbeciles around…"

"We haven't even met them yet, Vexen."

"…Was that an Even pun?"

"…Just make the sedatives. Ignore all else."

"…Right…"

* * *

The two men quickly reverted to their normal sitting position, not daring to move. Those _things_, or whatever they were, were most likely formidable enemies. The slightest movement that would be considered suspicious would be the death of either of them.

Well, that's what Cobb and Arthur thought, anyway.

The black creatures tilted their heads to the side as if to ask, "Huh? Why aren't you two doing anything?"

When the men continued to stare at the seats in front of them with nonchalant faces, the creatures turned away to face Eames, disappointed that the other two strange humans were like old men, talking about events where the children would be left utterly confused, them being the children.

"Should we wake Eames up?" Arthur quietly inquired, intently watching the seat in front of him.

"No, Eames will probably flip out, making us in a _very_ dangerous position," replied Cobb. "For now, we should just enjoy our ride to wherever this plane takes us. Or at least pretend that this is normal."

For ten minutes, nothing actually happened, other than the fact that Eames was snoring loudly while the black creatures stared at him intently, curious to see the odd man making strange noises.

Suddenly, a mass of dark, black energy appeared at the front of the aisle, making Cobb and Arthur flinch slightly in their seats. A male figure clad in a dark trench coat appeared before them in mere seconds, and the energy twisted and turned as he waltzed toward them.

"Wake him up," he ordered Cobb, gesturing to Eames with a lazy hand.

Cobb complied, and Eames was awake after a few shakes and slaps to the face. Eames was irritated, but seeing the unidentified man, he kept his mouth shut.

"Follow me," the man simply stated and the trio reluctantly followed him into the portal, knowing that the man would lead them to their long awaited destination.

* * *

The area to which they were lead was unlike anything they had ever seen before. The odd insignia on the floor was seen on the outside of the castle, which was an upside-down heart with pieces taken out of it. It was a pure white room with thirteen throne-like seats that had rather random heights to them and were adorned with the same symbol. Each throne sat a person that was dressed in a black leather trench coat with a zipper, metal drawstrings, black leather gloves, and two black boots with silver lining. They also had their hoods up.

Coughing was heard, and everyone, including the Extraction team on the floor, turned toward the black-hooded man on the highest throne.

"Welcome to the Castle That Never Was," he said in a deep voice.

His voice echoed, "You are Eames, Cobb, and Arthur, yes? Then I humbly welcome you to our home and headquarters. Your mission, your co-workers, and all those details will be explained at a later time, so I do suggest to you that you understand and accept the environment that you are in. Number XIII, if you will, please take them to the Grey Room to give them your introduction."

In mere seconds, the three men were teleported into a rather large, gray room along with said the member.

The wall straight ahead was windows that showed an amazing view of the heart-shaped moon and the rest of the city, while the others looked as though they came from the insides of a computer. There were a couple of glass plates in the gray mechanical floor along with four couches and two tables that had the same tone of gray. Two couches were on the left while two on the right, leaving an open walkway to the windows. There was also an odd, small creature with a large, oval nose and a huge red pom-pom that came out of its head wore the Organization's coat to the left of the team.

"Ummm…Hello, my name is Roxas. I am Number XIII, the Key of Destiny," the Organization member said, while taking off his hood.

Roxas was rather young and had dirty blond hair that spiked upward to his right. He had bright blue eyes and his polite, warm smile allowed the Extraction team to relax a bit.

"Pleased to meet you, Roxas," Cobb replied, giving the boy a slight smile.

"Well… Since you're new to this and all…," the boy mumbled, unsure of what to say. "Maybe we should start off with the real basics?"

The trio nodded, silently urging the boy to give them an idea of what kind of mission they were actually facing.

"You might have noticed that we aren't exactly… human, in a way. I guess you've seen the little black guys with antennae walking around oddly? Those are called Heartless. They are beings of darkness that are created from the darkness in people's hearts. There are two kinds, Emblem Heartless and Pure-Blood Heartless. I don't really know why, though…. I'm pretty new to this, too. Apparently, they take people's hearts and even the hearts of worlds- waaait. You don't even know about the worlds".

"Okay. There are billions -no- countless amount of worlds in this multi-verse. Right now, we are on The World That Never Was; yours was one of the many unidentified but similar Earths out there… The Heartless can feed on those hearts of worlds _and_ people. But that isn't why you're here. We, Organization XIII, are Nobodies. We're the leftovers that the Heartless didn't take. We're the soul. We're the body. We're emotionless- heartless, in a sense. …Or something like that."

Roxas pointed to the moon with a slight look of relief, "That is Kingdom Hearts. It's where the freed hearts of Heartless go, which are released by a magical weapon called the Keyblade. Organization XIII's goal is to take those hearts and become whole again."

"This is where you guys come in. By causing some people's minds to be completely full of darkness, we can create mega-Heartless. A Heartless that will speed up our process of becoming whole again can be created."

The three men were in absolute shock at the boy's speech. None of them spoke, thinking that this was some sort of joke that was used to catch them of guard. Roxas's stare of pure confusion and cocked eyebrow told them otherwise.

"Umm… That's all I have to say; that was almost exactly what I heard when I joined this organization… There isn't much else to explain except for the specific mission details which I don't know," Roxas gently stated, knowing that the splurge of information would be hard to take in at once.

"Now, if you're done, Roxas, I'd like to get the _awesome tour_ of the castle over with…" bluntly stated a feminine voice right behind them.

* * *

**Please Review!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Edit 2/20: **This whole story has been edited. I hope you enjoy this more than what it was before. Most of the edits were in the prologue.**  
**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything! Inception belongs to Christopher Nolan and KH belongs to Square Enix and Disney!**  
**

**Chapter Two

* * *

**The group hastily turned to view the feminine newcomer. She took off her hood, revealing a woman with short blond hair that had two antennae-like pieces of hair sticking out, which uncannily reminded Arthur of the Heartless they saw. She also had emerald eyes that were fixed upon the group with a deadly glare. Her stiff posture and distasteful frown gave her an aura that a panther has before it pounces on its victim. She glared at the men, her frown growing bitterer as she scanned the guests thoroughly.

"Might I ask your name?" Arthur inquired, unconsciously twitching at the woman's arrogance.

"The name's Larxene. Otherwise known as Number XII, the Savage Nymph," she jeered. "Anyway, before you babble on about your names and all that crap that I don't care about, _DON'T_ introduce yourselves. Save me the trouble of pretending that I actually care about who you three are."

'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Out of EVERYONE you **HAD** to choose _her_ to introduce these poor human beings,' Roxas thought, beads of sweat forming oh his forehead. 'I hope they get out alive.'

While the three men gave Larxene their best death glares, which were pretty bad, as her attitude was as hard a rock, Roxas lied terribly, "It doesn't matter, since she'll get to know you anyway, since you'll be staying for awhile! Ahehe…he."

Everyone stared at him, including the creature to the side, with blank expressions, as Larxene's indifference was incredibly hard to cover up.

Larxene, ignoring the death glares for the first time, stated, "Riiight. Anyway, this is the Grey Room, surprise, surprise. It's the area where we get missions to hunt Heartless. I'm guessing Roxy here didn't tell you about it…"

"I did, actually."

"Really? _Great._ I never knew that you had an actual functioning brain. Anyway, we go through a portal to another world once we get out mission from Saix, otherwise known as the Nobody with the biggest stick up his ass. We also synthesize random materials with the Moogle over there. I call him Bob," she pointed to the previous unidentified creature.

"It's Stiltzkin," Roxas muttered, loudly enough for the Extraction team to hear, but not loud enough for Larxene to come and fry his whole being alive. "Got that? Not really? Too bad, let's go," Larxene continued.

She started stomping toward the other path adjacent of the Moogle, so the trio had no choice but to comply with her order. Roxas, on the other hand, was about to conjure up a portal when he _remarkably_ realized something_._

"Umm, Larxene? You're not going to maim anyone, right? …Right?"

No answer.

"Larxene?"

The stomping almost seized, and Roxas sighed, "…Guess I have to rescue them."

* * *

Roxas, who caught up with the group, eyed Larxene warily and tried not to panic. Although he was a new member, Larxene's unorthodox tendencies were not aloof to him, and he was quite aware that leaving her alone with a bunch of guests was probably not the best idea he'd have in his nonexistence.

"This is the Hall of Empty Melodies," Larxene declared, stopping in the middle of the room.

It was a very large room with a large platform on the other side of the group, decorated with a huge white room that looked like the one that was seen at the meeting area, and smaller black ones that were similar. Various lines and wing-like designs were also on the side of the platform that was facing the group. Similar line designs were on the blue floor as well as the white walls.

"Continuing on," Larxene said, moving towards the door underneath the platform.

"Keep out of these rooms."

"Kitchen."

"Dining hall."

"The pathway called something that no one actually cares about."

* * *

"And this is what you all have been waiting for, ladies and gentlemen!"

"_Your rooms!__"_ Larxene boomed, strangely with glee while gesturing to the "rooms".

"This is just the Hall of Empty Melodies, with unmade tents on the floor," Arthur stated matter-of-factly after a moment of silence, staring disappointedly at the tents.

Sure enough, it WAS the Hall of Empty Melodies with black tents on the floor, most likely thrown on the ground with little effort. Larxene just ignored Arthur's request, humming a random tune to create her silent answer of, "So? I don't care."

"Roxas," Eames began. Roxas, appearing unfazed, simply replied, "Sorry, but Larxene's right. You have to sleep here. Superior's orders."

Little did they know that the Superior's orders were to give the guests a comfortable living space with bedding and sleeping materials, not to put them in the Hall with unmade tents.

Cobb sighed, "Alright then, let's get to it." He cracked his knuckles and began to put the tent together.

Larxene, on that cue, took her leave via portal and left Roxas to take care of the guests. The team carefully set up the tents, and when they realized that there was absolutely nothing other than the tents, they sighed deeply, thinking about their equipment that they left on the plane. Roxas, noticing their disappointment cheerfully exclaimed, "I'll get some stuff for you guys to sleep on! I'll be right back, don't worry about it!" None of the three replied, so he promptly left.

"Damn it. This is rather disturbing; we don't even get beds, for crying out loud!" Eames mumbled once the portal closed. His eyebrows were scrunched, and his expression bitter.

"At least Roxas is coming back with things to sleep on," Arthur replied, sitting down on the floor now that all the tents were made.

Cobb, who also followed that gesture, stated, "We can count on that kid, even if we can't count on Larxene and probably most people in this organization. This is completely unremarkable, though. I thought that the clients would be more respectful towards us as humans, not Nobodies or another being of some sort."

"What were you expecting with a _mysterious_ client? _Unknown_ location. Did you hope that we would find royalty in a palace? I think not. We had this coming, coming here that is," Arthur retorted. "WHAT?" Eames immediately exclaimed, not realizing that Cobb failed to mention _that_ part of the job on the phone. Cobb did not answer, and Eames rubbed his temple thoroughly, attempting to not blow up right then and there.

"Where's our stuff?" Eames asked after clearing his thoughts, already knowing the answer. Seeing as the other men would not admit the obvious answer, Eames stated. "Crap. We left it on the plane…"

As if on cue, Roxas appeared with a pile of pillows, sheets, and other stuff, as well. Another member with the same height was next to him, also carrying more things for them to use like towels. Roxas, however, was not carrying his gentle, calming aura anymore. He was a stiff, emotionless, and a blank slate.

"Here, guys," Roxas said stiffly while handing the materials to Cobb. "Your stuff is inside the sleeping bags."

"…And also in Vexen's lab."

Before the trio could even think or ask who Vexen was, not to mention ask why he had their stuff, the other Nobody interrupted while dropping some items, "We are expected in his lab at this moment, actually. I shall lead, if you don't mind."

After placing all the materials onto the floor, everyone followed the boy without a word, who took of his hood. He looked like the same age as Roxas, although his appearance was vastly different. His hair was a steel blue, and he had eyes a darker shade of his hair color. The locks of hair came down the left side of his face blocking his other eye, and a few strands found their way on the right side of his face. Unlike Roxas, he did not appear to be optimistic at all. Rather, his appearance at that time caused the trio to feel more aggravated at the sheer pessimism of this world. He spoke nothing of his name or identity and led the group to their destination quickly. When upon a black door, he opened it and gestured for the group to go in.

The inside of Vexen's lab was extraordinary.

Unlike a stereotypical mad scientist's lab, every potion, machine, or specimen was organized into neat shelves and cabinets. There wasn't any random waste on the floor, and the workspace was clear for anything that it was going to encounter. The walls and materials were all steel-gray, and the main table for experiments was a lighter gray. Next to that same table was an elderly man with long dirty blond hair. He had emerald eyes and a longer version of the Organization attire. His expression showed that he was clearly not in the mood for any sort of childish behavior; it was a bitter, knowing look that someone gets when an obnoxious child does something obnoxious. The boy, when entering the room, took a stand next to him.

"I suppose that proper introductions are in order," the boy stated in monotone. "My name is Zexion; the sixth member of the Organization being myself. 'The Cloaked Schemer' is a moniker I hold." He shook hands with Cobb, Arthur, and Eames with a polite, but not genuine, smile.

The elderly man grumbled something along the lines of "Vexen" "Chilly" "Academic" and "Four." Unlike Zexion, he did not try to be polite or respectful to his guests, nor did he try to explain anything to his guests. After a moment of silence, Zexion sighed, "Must every piece of technical or scientific information that is needed to be explained to those ignorant to it be left to me? I am not the only one with knowledge in this castle…"

He continued, "Well then. I'm guessing that you want your materials for Extraction to be in your hands? Unfortunately, Vexen has taken a liking to them, and wishes to cast a few experiments of his own… As you have an extra machine, we propose a compromise. Tomorrow, you will begin your first task with that one. It should be no problem, as that was your spare, anyway. It only needs one level in the dream, and it's more of an introduction to the work you'll be doing. You don't really need any models or such; it's just improvisation at that point. You're not doing Extraction or Inception, sot there is no need to worry."

"I'll give your other machine back to you as soon as possible. It should not take long," he finished. While Eames and Arthur were completely distracted with Zexion's display of vast knowledge, the others understood immediately what his point was.

Arthur, suspicious of Zexion's vast knowledge, queried, "How do you know-" "He's a bookworm. Always in the library, getting knowledge crammed into his brain," Roxas whispered a little too loudly.

"…I heard that."

"Sorry."

"We'll see you soon, then," Zexion stated, opening up a portal and biding for the guests to go through it. They complied, ready for sleep before their first mission. Roxas, however, stayed behind.

Once the team left, Vexen immediately began examining his new trinkets, using microscopes and other materials to fully understand the nature of the equipment. Zexion, who faced Roxas after a moment, advised, "Don't get attached to them. They're completely disposable, and if they fail, death awaits them. Nothing can stop us from achieving our final goal. Dreams and emotions cannot stop our power. Remember that. Sympathy was the downfall of someone close to you, and you're too close to that path."

**-Around 10 Hours Later-**

Cobb stretched, slightly yawning as he woke to the greeting of nothing. A lot had happened the day before, and he was more than eager to get to the first mission. His eagerness had prevented him from getting adequate rest, so he sat down drowsily and took out a memento from his past; his totem. By thinking about his life, he would get upset, which eventually would cause his sloth to disappear. Everything in his life with dreaming all started with the small top, which guided him to reality. While fiddling with the top, he thought about why he had chosen this job out of the many that were offered to him. It wasn't because he wanted the money. No, he wanted something more; something that Xemnas promised would become his new reality. That promise forced him to go through this odd job, and the promise that would guide him to his eternal light.

He clutched his totem before spinning it to confirm that this was indeed reality. When it fell, he snugly placed it into his pocket just as Arthur woke up. Arthur, who fell asleep soundly the night before, murmured, "…Need. To wake up… Now," his words faded as he got up and folded his sleeping bag neatly before attending to Cobb's.

Cobb nudged Eames slightly in hopes that Eames could wake up without a fight. He started shaking Eames, after getting no response, but unfortunately for him, Eames did not wake up, and Cobb grew irritated quickly.

"Are you having trouble there?"

The two men looked back to the direction of the Grey Room and saw a redheaded Organization member. He had green teardrop tattoos underneath his emerald eyes, and his hair spiked up behind him. The sleeves of his jacket hung tightly against his arms, clutching his bony and slim body tightly.

Arthur, gesturing to Eames, chuckled, "Yeah, he's a heavy sleeper. Do you mind waking him up? Cobb over there is too gentle."

Grinning, the man replied, "I would help, but apparently, I can't wake anyone up anymore because I end up lighting them on fire…" He drifted off, laughing at Cobb's failure. Sighing, Cobb promptly slapped Eames across the face, and Eames yelped, signaling that he was awake. Eames rubbed his cheek gingerly, frowning at the three men laughing around him. "Anyway," the redhead said, trying to stifle his laughter, but failing. "They want you guys to go to the Grey Room. Hey, I'm Axel, by the way."

They gave their greetings, and Axel left them to prepare for their mission. After checking the silver briefcase for any problems, the team stood up, and left for the Grey Room.

**

* * *

Please Review!**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

**Disclaimer: ...I don't own Inception or KH. **

**Note: ..Heheheh. Sorry for taking so long; lost motivation and interest. But after some drawing and new fandoms, I've realized that I really need to finish this. Heheh.  
**

* * *

To say that the morning was awkward for a typical Extractor would be an understatement.

"WHAT KIND OF MOVE WAS THAT, YOU LITTLE—!"

"It was called a **kick**, Xigbar. _A kick to the crotch_. It burns, doesn't it?"

"-"

When the Extraction team walked into the Grey Room, Roxas rushed over to them in a panic. He clutched his knees, gasping for breath, all the while sweating and trembling. He looked up at them, and they could see a noticeable right black eye, fresh and swelling like mad. Larxene was near the window, in a verbal war with "Xigbar", who was in absolute rage. His face was bright red, and his golden eyes were locked in a scrunched, burning expression. His pupils were narrow, and an intense dense aura radiated from him. He hardly thought of his appearance at the moment, as his black hair streaked with gray and white in a ponytail was messed up, and strands of hair stuck up all over the face due to the numerous impacts on the floor, the wall, and what not. Even his scar on his middle aged face seemed a lighter tone than usual due to the amount of anger, or fake anger he obtained.

"Good morning, night, evening, or day, guys!" Roxas smiled, wincing a bit at the pain in his right eye. When he caught the trio staring at him, he explained, "I tried breaking up the fight between Larxene and Xigbar. It didn't end well." He was about to explain more, before Larxene kicked Xigbar in the gut with a flick to the right, sending him directly at the group.

Arthur, Cobb, and Roxas sidestepped easily, while Eames was not as lucky. Xigbar collided with Eames, and they landed on the floor with a thud. Xigbar recovered easily, immediately getting up and helping the other man to his feet before introducing himself in a hasty manner. "Sorry about that. My name is Xigbar, and don't―"

At that point, Larxene punched him right in the face, towards the hallway. The impact and speed of the punch caused a slight breeze in the room, and a large crash was heard. She cast a glance down at the Eames before sneering and walking away to sit on a couch, her boots clattering on the gray floor. For a moment, no one spoke, exchanging glances between Larxene and the possible location of Xigbar.

"..That was a strange way to start the day," Cobb stated, breaking the silence. Roxas nodded, "…That's actually typical for me. Ah! That reminds me! Do you see Saix near the window? He's the one with the blue hair; you can't miss him. Talk to him, and he'll explain what you have to do today. I'll go see if Xigbar is okay." As he dashed to examine Eames, Stiltzkin followed him, with a roll of bandages and a strange assortment of potions and liquids of many colors. The group observed for a minute or two, and then walked over to Saix.

Saix was a peculiar man. His hair was a brilliant tone of Bleu de France, and two long pieces came down the sides of his face at the chest. At the top of his head, his hair spiked upward and behind him while the rest of his hair came down the back of his head like a stereotypical average female's. He had scar the shape of an "x" smack dab in the middle of his face, and his eyes were a piercing gold. He had his arms folded, as he leaned on the window, staring off to space. When the group came within two feet of him, a glint appeared in his eyes, he straightened himself, and he brushed off imaginary wrinkles on his trench coat.

"There you are. I am Number VII, otherwise known as Saix. I trust that your night was satisfactory?" he spoke calmly, letting his words drag out. The group nodded, as it was the only polite thing they could think of doing at the moment, as the other act involved screaming and bloody murder. "Splendid. Today, all you are required to do is to meet up with Number VIII and Number IX in either's state of mind. They are in Vexen's lab, currently, as it will be more pleasant to lie down on the hospital beds there than the floor or a chair, no?"

With a wave, he dismissed them, who could hardly get a word in the conversation. Other members started to appear in the room, speaking to Saix before walking into a dark portal of twisted black and purple energy not unlike the one they'd encountered before, so they left, after getting directions from Roxas.

Surprisingly, they did not get lost, and arrived at Vexen's lab without being maimed. When they arrived, nothing was said, and the machines were prepared as quickly as possible in a back room that had ten hospital beds. Two members already lied down and took the sedatives before being attached to the machine. The trio also quickly downed their sedatives with water, and followed suit. They were knocked out in a minute or so, and off to the dream space they were.

"Did they take them?" questioned a voice behind Vexen. "You'd think that trained men like they wouldn't take someone else's sedatives so easily…how gullible. That's a shame. I had such high hopes for them."

* * *

"So this is the dream space" stated Axel, who took of his hood and basked in the sun, spreading his arms as if to grasp the scenery.

"What the- Cobb, you said that we would be in a modern building to explain paradoxes and such, so why-" Arthur began, but hesitated when he saw that even Cobb was in a bit of shock over the dream scape.

The plan was originally to use a building, which is the same area that Arthur would later on use to train Ariadne, but for some reason, the dream itself had a mind of its own. It, instead, was a town full of many buildings with different heights. Pipes and such came out of each of them, connecting them all together. It was sunset, instead of the vibrant morning the Extraction team was hoping for.

"Wow. Never knew it looked so much like Hollow Bastion," Axel remarked, stretching while Demyx and the others took a glance around. "Hollow Bastion? You mean Radiant Garden? Didn't you come from there or something?" Demyx asked, scratching his head. Axel did not reply, listening at the voices around him.

"Isa, you slowpoke! Hurry up or the ice-cream shop will close!" a voiced yelled.

"Slow down, Lea! Mr. Scrooge knows we're coming anyway; it wouldn't matter if we were held up by a few minutes" replied another. The two voices began to grow, revealing two young males that were completely the opposite. One, Lea, was an energetic redhead, with spikey red hair that resembled Axel's only spiked directly upwards. He, like Axel, had bright emerald eyes, and he wore a white shirt with a sleeveless orange jacket, along with slightly baggy tan pants, a yellow and olive bandana-scarf, and red shoes. The other, Isa, was more reserved, with a shorter version of Saix's hair and sea green eyes. The hair that stuck up at the top of his head stood up more than Saix's, and his attire was that of a black undershirt, a blue jacket that had a yellow crescent sewn into a pocket on the left part of his chest. He also wore white pants and black shoes. They both panted for half a minute or so when taking a slight break to regain their breaths before running straight through Axel as if nothing was there in the first place.

Axel widened his eyes slightly before hardening his expression and turning to the rest of the group. "Is this exactly what you planned? Or was this just a coincidence?" Cobb shook his head, "Not at all. Normally, we'd be in a space where the location would be controlled by the architect, in other words me, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It probably has to do with the fact that you two are Nobodies, which our machine isn't used to working with. Perhaps we should try tomorrow with real test subjects..?" "Agreed."

Demyx sighed in relief, "Oh, well, that's great! No work for me to do today; which I probably couldn't do in the first place." He placed his hands behind his neck. "So let's go?"

When they returned, they informed Xemnas of their failure, which was surprisingly taken well. The next day had a bit more success.

* * *

**Please Review!**


End file.
